Conversations about Reality: Can we learn something from Plato's Allegory of the Cave?
Last night, we had many interesting conversations about reality and whether we all have different versions of it ? Shantanu made a comment about frames of reference and whether that would make a difference in what each one of us perceive as reality? Today afternoon, I was having a conversation with a colleague on philosophy and I was suddenly reminded of Plato's allegory of the cave. I will do my best to explain it in an easy manner and why I think it is relevant to our conversations.
Plato (Student of Socrates) describes a situation where a group of prisoners were chained to a wall in a cave. These prisoners spent their entire life and growing years in the cave. They were chained in a manner such that they faced a blank wall. These people watched shadows projected on the wall from objects passing in front of a fire (light) behind them. These prisoners even gave names to these shadows. The shadows were the prisoners' reality. A closest image I thought would explain it is below (the prisoners are sitting down on the left):
Plato goes on to describe that one of the prisoners was set free and he then realizes that there is a whole different world out there and that the shadows were not reality. However, the other prisoners find it hard to believe it. This whole scenario makes so much sense when it comes to reality. Our cultural experiences, the artifacts around us seem to us as reality but people who have had different experiences may have another way of what constitutes reality. For these prisoners, the shadows were their artifacts and they even gave names to it!! However, the people outside have a different understanding. I think this could also go back to one's frame of reference and how one's perception of reality may vary depending on that. This allegory is also a good example to show that relying only on our physical senses may not always be the best way to understand what reality is.
I agree with Vygotsky in that our interactions with people around us, the culture in which we are born and the artifacts we get introduced to (tools and language), plays such a huge role in shaping our minds and how we perceive everything. This allegory also reminded me of an incident where our helper's daughter (in India) , was visiting our house and an urban set up. She generally lived in a rural setting. One of the days, she saw me use my smart phone and make a video call to my cousin. She was amazed at how you can see someone else through the phone and refused to believe that it was happening in real time. For her, a phone was an artifact that represented having only audio conversations. However, later her idea of it slowly changed, especially after she saw the various things one can do with a smart phone.
Plato (Student of Socrates) describes a situation where a group of prisoners were chained to a wall in a cave. These prisoners spent their entire life and growing years in the cave. They were chained in a manner such that they faced a blank wall. These people watched shadows projected on the wall from objects passing in front of a fire (light) behind them. These prisoners even gave names to these shadows. The shadows were the prisoners' reality. A closest image I thought would explain it is below (the prisoners are sitting down on the left):
Plato goes on to describe that one of the prisoners was set free and he then realizes that there is a whole different world out there and that the shadows were not reality. However, the other prisoners find it hard to believe it. This whole scenario makes so much sense when it comes to reality. Our cultural experiences, the artifacts around us seem to us as reality but people who have had different experiences may have another way of what constitutes reality. For these prisoners, the shadows were their artifacts and they even gave names to it!! However, the people outside have a different understanding. I think this could also go back to one's frame of reference and how one's perception of reality may vary depending on that. This allegory is also a good example to show that relying only on our physical senses may not always be the best way to understand what reality is.
I agree with Vygotsky in that our interactions with people around us, the culture in which we are born and the artifacts we get introduced to (tools and language), plays such a huge role in shaping our minds and how we perceive everything. This allegory also reminded me of an incident where our helper's daughter (in India) , was visiting our house and an urban set up. She generally lived in a rural setting. One of the days, she saw me use my smart phone and make a video call to my cousin. She was amazed at how you can see someone else through the phone and refused to believe that it was happening in real time. For her, a phone was an artifact that represented having only audio conversations. However, later her idea of it slowly changed, especially after she saw the various things one can do with a smart phone.
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